BENGALURU: In an attempt to encourage the use of electric vehicles in the city, the Transport Department is now sending letters to passenger and goods companies to convert at least 20 per cent of their fleet into electric vehicles. Currently, only about 33,000 electric vehicles are plying in the state of which 11,000 are in Bengaluru. With the state government running only less than 2 per cent of electric vehicles, transport officials say that the ideal number should be 5 per cent.
“We are intimating various companies to convert some of their fleet. Some of the companies have already converted and informed the department as well. But there are companies, especially share cab firms, who have not taken up that responsibility or have not kept us in the loop,” said Shivraj Patil, Additional Commissioner of Transport (e-governance and Environment).
The companies are being asked to chalk out a plan on achieving the said target. Though the Union government has set a deadline of 2030 for 100 per cent e-mobility, the state wishes to initiate e-mobility starting from commercial vehicles.
An Uber spokesperson said, “At Uber, we believe the future of mobility is shared, electric and multi-modal and are working towards building an ecosystem to bring more electric vehicles to our platform. We support the Karnataka government’s electric vision for the state.”